Legend

Excellent

Better and better

The teenager, skippering the side, opened the scoring after just four minutes and added two assists in the rout.

The victory marked the end of an emphatic tournament for Steve Cooper’s side in the Croatia Cup. They beat the hosts 5-0 last Wednesday and then beat Greece 3-0.

20:50Ciaran Kelly

Beauty

20:25Ciaran Kelly

The next Rashford

United boss Jose Mourinho wants City scout David Harrison to cross the divide as the club’s new head of academy recruitment, according to reports.

Harrison, who previously worked at Leeds and Arsenal, has been with City since 2009 and Mourinho has admired his work from afar says the Sun.

The City scout currently works as the club’s head of north west and north of England recruitment.

19:53Ciaran Kelly

Fine margins

United boss Jose Mourinho will look to exploit Liverpool’s weakness in goal, according to Reds legend John Aldridge.

The bitter rivals meet at Anfield on October 17 and Aldridge is concerned about Loris Karius’ weakness when coming to claim crosses.

The first concern for me right now is the choice of keeper and, despite all the criticism that has gone Simon Mignolet’s way in the last couple of years, he looks a better bet than this new boy Loris Karius, the Irishman told the Sunday World.

Klopp has clearly seen something in this keeper that he likes, but Karius looks nervous defending crosses to me. That is a real weakness Liverpool’s opponents will try to exploit.

I bet Jose Mourinho was watching that game at Swansea and liking what he saw from Karius, with his Manchester United side likely to try and exploit his vulnerabilities when they come to Anfield in the next round of Premier League fixtures.

Dream on

Mourinho’s father, Felix, gave the former midfielder his debut at Vitoria, while the current United manager also allowed him to come and observe his coaching sessions at Real Madrid and Chelsea.

What I do is 90 percent like him, he told The Times.

I have my opinion, my ideas, I watched many, many training [sessions], took things from him, and combine with my ideas.

19:20Ciaran Kelly

Next Adu

Untied were scouting 15-year-old Alphonso Davies at the Vancouver Whitecaps game against the Seattle Sounders, according to reports.

Fox Soccer say that Jorge Alvial, Manchester United’s scout for the Americas, was tracking the winger during Saturday’s match.

Davies is the second youngest player to play in MLS.

19:02Ciaran Kelly

Bitter pill

The question now is, what next for Ryan Giggs?

After being overlooked for the Swansea City job, the Welshman remains out of football.

The 42-year-old, who spent 29 years at Old Trafford as a player and coach, had been heavily linked with a return to his homeland following Francesco Guidolin’s indifferent start to the season.

Last week, Giggs denied there had been an approach from the Swans but said it was “no secret” that he would like to get back into football.

Giggs, who was previously caretaker boss at Old Trafford, has been working as a pundit since Louis van Gaal was dismissed as United manager in May.

19:01Ciaran Kelly

Poor Giggsy

18:39Ciaran Kelly

Lonely

It’s set to be a quiet week at Carrington for Jose Mourinho with the inconvenience of the international break.

Sixteen Manchester United players are on international duty over the next fortnight, while 10 members of the first-team squad have got a week off.

Mourinho, though, won’t be taking it easy - knowing too well how things can change quickly.

Before the last international break, United were full of confidence having won their opening three games under Mourinho ahead of a huge Manchester derby.

The Portuguese has endured an indifferent month since then, with United losing three games on the bounce before delivering a brilliant performance against Leicester last month.

Mourinho will be crossing his fingers that United’s squad returns unscathed from their international travails, because October could be a decisive month in his reign.

In the space of 10 days, United face an in-form Liverpool, host Fenerbahce, visit Mourinho’s old haunt at Stamford Bridge and then entertain Man City in the fourth-round of the EFL Cup.

18:22Ciaran Kelly

Big talent

Untied are stepping up efforts to sign Racing Genk forward Leon Bailey, according to reports.

The 19-year-old was watched by United’s chief scout, Jim Lawlor, in Genk’s 3-1 Europa League win over Sassuolo last week according to ESPN.

Lawlor also watched Bailey score two goals in Genk’s 3-2 defeat to Rapid Vienna last month.

The Jamaican is among the 40 nominees for the 2016 Golden Boy award.

18:11Ciaran Kelly

Softie

United skipper Wayne Rooney has lost the “nastiness” that made him one of the world’s most feared strikers, according to Reds legend Teddy Sherringham.

The 30-year-old has struggled for form under Jose Mourinho this season and has been a substitute in United’s last three matches.

Sherringham thinks that Rooney needs to discover his edge again if he is to get his place back.

I’ve been saying for a long time now that Wayne Rooney doesn’t have the bite and spark he had about five years ago, Sheringham told talkSPORT.

Without that horrible nastiness, he’s half the player.

He has got to ask himself some serious questions. What is it that makes him a great player? For me that is it.

If he can get that back, if he can start performing on the edge again, which made him who he was, then I think you’ve still got a player there…but I haven’t seen that for the last 18 months to two years.

That edge was the difference between Wayne Rooney being a good player and an exceptional player, and I think he needs to get that back to get back into the Manchester United team.

You ask centre-halves who have played against him six or seven years ago and are playing against him now – it’s a different footballer.

The Wayne Rooney of six or seven years ago was a horrible, nasty man who you didn’t want to play against. That’s not the case at the moment.

18:00Ciaran Kelly

Big shoes

United defender Chris Smalling is backing Eric Bailly to follow in Nemanja Vidic’s footsteps in becoming a Reds great.

Bailly has hit the ground running at Old Trafford since his £30 million move from Villarreal.

Despite not being fluent in English, the Ivorian has already struck up a promising partnership with Smalling and the Untied vice-captain has high hopes for Bailly.

He’s very physically imposing as well and really easy to play alongside, he told MUTV.

Nemanja was one of those defenders who was very aggressive, very dominant and took no nonsense.

Eric plays the same way.

He can go through a tackle and he doesn’t take risks. If it needs to go, it goes! You can see the similarities there and I expect Eric to have many good years here.

17:33Ciaran Kelly

Undroppable

Daley Blind was Louis van Gaal’s undroppable player for Manchester United last season - and Jose Mourinho is keen to keep the versatile Dutchman involved this season.

The 26-year-old is delighted, therefore, that he includes ‘adaptability’ high up on his list of personal assets.

Ex-Reds boss Van Gaal struggled to rest Blind last term as United’s casualty list grew out of all proportions.

It meant the 2014 buy from Ajax started in 55 of United’s 59 matches and appeared as a sub in another. He was LVG’s most-used player.

He's right

United midfielder Paul Pogba needs time to fulfil his potential at Old Trafford, according to France boss Didier Deschamps.

The 23-year-old has struggled to set the world alight since his world-record move from Juventus in August, but Deschamps his confident he will come good.

He has changed his club team and needs to find his bearing with his new team-mates, Deschamps told a news conference at Clairefontaine.

With Paul, we always expect more. When he does something neutral, often it is not enough.

He is someone we expect to make assists in every game – there is an expectation that is too large.

Paul is okay in his own head. He knows what he wants.

17:28Ciaran Kelly

Lucky boy

United midfielder Ander Herrera was lucky to stay on the field after a studs-up challenge on Stoke’s Joe Allen, according to a former Premier League referee.

Referee Robert Madley did not think the tackle merited a yellow card, but Dermot Gallagher believes the Spaniard should have seen red.

I think if the referee had seen the view we have got it would have been red.

It’s high, dangerous and the ball has gone. Unfortunately the referee has a square-on view behind Allen and hasn’t seen the impact and severity of the challenge.

17:18Ciaran Kelly

More to come

United boss Jose Mourinho has endured one of his worst starts to the season - on paper at least.

Aside from 2007 and 2015, when Mourinho was sacked by Chelsea, a team managed by the Portuguese has not had such a low points total.

United have claimed just 13 points from their first seven games under Mourinho.

16:50Ciaran Kelly

Only one Keano

Former England skipper Gary Lineker has played down the influence of United legend Roy Keane when he was captain of the club.

Lineker believes the captaincy is little more than a symbolic role after interim England boss Gareth Southgate was quizzed on Wayne Rooney staying on as England skipper.

16:45Ciaran Kelly

Prodigy

16:39Ciaran Kelly

Hot prospect

United are scouting Benfica teenager Goncalo Guedes, according to reports.

The 19-year-old has already scored a goal and recorded two assists for the Portuguese giants this season.

According to Portuguese publication Record, United have been scouting the wide man - who has already been capped by Portugal.

16:24Ciaran Kelly

Louis' lieutenant

16:20Ciaran Kelly

Right as always

Manchester United’s draw against Stoke City was painful but Ander Herrera says the Reds cannot afford for it to linger on and become a post-international week hangover.

Jose Mourinho’s squad broke up for national team duty after the 1-1 draw against Mark Hughes’ side.

After the last international window United returned to suffer a three-match losing blow to their Premier League and Europa League ambitions losing against City, Feyenoord and Watford.

And with a tough three-game schedule against Liverpool at Anfield, a home Euro tie against Fenerbahce and a trip to Chelsea in eight days after this international fortnight, midfielder Herrera says United cannot suffer a repeat.